Book
Alabi's world
Johns Hopkins University Press • Baltimore • Published In 1990 • Pages: xx, 444
By: Price, Richard.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a multi-vocal history (1660-1820) of the Saramaka drawn from their own oral history (see also document no. 4), and the written accounts of Dutch colonial officers and German Moravian missionaries. Price also includes his own voice based on his field work carried out over a twenty-year period. Each perspective is printed in a different typeface. Price ties together the various narrative threads, while allowing each to speak for itself. Although Price gives an account of the early Saramakan history beginning with the establishment of the first plantations in the late 1600s, the study concentrates on the period following the end of hostilities between runaway slaves and plantation owners in 1762, up to the death of the Saramakan tribal chief, and Christian convert, Alabi, in 1820. The study highlights the efforts and effects of missionary activity and the ongoing negotiation of treaty terms between the Saramakans and colonial authorities. Although the Saramakans were obligated by the treaty to return all runaway slaves in exchange for valued tributary goods, Prices documents how relatively few runaways were returned and the inability of colonial authorities to do anything about it.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Traditional history
- History
- Slavery
- External relations
- Peacemaking
- Missions
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Saramaka
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1999
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- South America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Amazon and Orinoco
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 1997
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1966-1987
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1660-1820
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Suriname
- NotesAdditional notes
- Richard Price
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 433-444)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 89015488
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Saramacca (Surinam people)